Kenneth Walker III has not merely solved the Kansas City Chiefs’ need at running back. Through the first six weeks of the 2026 season, he has played at a level that stacks up with some of the best running back seasons in PFN’s database.

Walker owns a 97.3 PFN Running Back Impact grade, comfortably ahead of Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 2. Chuba Hubbard, James Cook, and Bijan Robinson round out a top five featuring a mix of dominant rushing efficiency, receiving value, and enormous overall production.

PFN analyst Max Chadwick broke down the five highest-graded running backs entering Week 7. Running Back Impact blends rushing and receiving value over replacement with yards from scrimmage, touchdowns, and rushing yards over expectation to measure a player’s total impact.

5) Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

Bijan Robinson has produced more yards from scrimmage than any running back in football despite not leading the league in touches.

Robinson has 785 scrimmage yards on 138 touches. His 641 rushing yards rank second in the NFL, while he has added 144 receiving yards and five total touchdowns.

That production becomes even more impressive when considering his efficiency. Robinson has generated 8.9 rushing EPA this season, the second-best mark among qualified running backs, and he has gained 170 rushing yards over expectation.

Chadwick highlighted the relationship between Robinson’s volume and production. He ranks fourth in total touches but first in scrimmage yards, meaning Atlanta has received more yardage from him than any other team has gotten from its running back despite several players handling the football more often.

That is the type of efficiency the Falcons envisioned when they used a first-round pick on Robinson. He has developed into one of the league’s most complete backs, capable of creating explosive runs, producing after contact, and contributing as a receiver without needing an overwhelming workload to pile up yardage.

Robinson has already established himself as an elite NFL running back. His 2026 start has only reinforced that status.

4) James Cook, Buffalo Bills

James Cook has become an increasingly important part of a Buffalo offense that cannot consistently rely on its defense to control games.

Cook has 716 yards from scrimmage through six games, fifth-most among NFL running backs. He has rushed for 627 yards and six touchdowns while adding another 89 yards through the air.

The efficiency metrics are also among the league’s best. Cook has generated 5.9 rushing EPA and 106 rushing yards over expectation, putting him near the top of the position in both categories.

Chadwick also pointed to how far Cook has come since entering the league. Much of the discussion around him early in his career centered on whether he could become anything close to the type of NFL running back his older brother, Dalvin Cook, had been.

James Cook has now developed into a star in his own right.

His ability to create efficient rushing production gives Buffalo something beyond asking Josh Allen to carry the offense on virtually every important down. Allen remains the engine of the Bills, but Cook’s emergence has made the offense far less one-dimensional.

The raw production, efficiency, and touchdown output have combined to give Cook an 85.1 grade and the No. 4 spot in PFN’s rankings.

3) Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers

Chuba Hubbard doesn’t have the same volume as the other backs near the top of the rankings, but what he has done with his opportunities has been exceptional.

Hubbard has produced 511 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns on 103 touches. His 426 rushing yards rank ninth among qualified running backs despite his lighter workload, and he has added 85 receiving yards.

His PFN efficiency metrics explain why his grade is considerably higher than the counting stats might suggest. Hubbard has generated 6.8 rushing EPA, fourth-best at the position, and his 9.6 receiving EPA leads all running backs.

That receiving number is particularly important. Hubbard isn’t simply adding empty catches to his rushing production. His work as a receiver has consistently created positive value for Carolina’s offense.

Chadwick’s main takeaway was that the Panthers should be finding even more ways to involve him. Hubbard ranks only 14th among running backs in yards from scrimmage, largely because he hasn’t received the same touch volume as the players around him in PFN’s top five.

His 90.3 grade suggests the quality of those touches has been elite.

Hubbard has already turned himself into one of the league’s most productive backs on a per-opportunity basis. Increasing his workload could allow the traditional box-score numbers to begin matching the underlying performance.

2) Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions

Jahmyr Gibbs has been one of the most productive fantasy players in football, but the numbers driving that production extend well beyond fantasy scoring.

Gibbs has 738 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns through five games. His touchdown total leads all NFL running backs, while his scrimmage-yard total trails only Robinson and Walker.

He has rushed for 504 yards on 105 attempts and added 234 receiving yards on 27 catches. Only a handful of backs can match his ability to create high-end production in both phases of the offense.

PFN’s data reflects that balance. Gibbs has generated 4.5 rushing EPA and 6.5 receiving EPA, giving Detroit positive value whether it uses him as a conventional runner or creates opportunities for him in space.

His Week 5 performance against the Arizona Cardinals showed the entire package. Gibbs rushed 25 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns while catching five passes for another 56 yards, finishing with 207 yards from scrimmage.

Those two touchdowns also put him in NFL history. Gibbs moved past Barry Sanders for the most touchdowns ever scored by a player before his 25th birthday. Gibbs now has 58 career touchdowns and does not turn 25 until March.

Chadwick described Gibbs as the latest potentially legendary running back in Detroit after Sanders. That comparison carries enormous weight, but Gibbs’ early-career touchdown production has already placed his name next to one of the greatest backs the sport has seen.

His 93.6 PFN grade is elite. It still isn’t enough to catch the player ranked first.

1) Kenneth Walker III, Kansas City Chiefs

Kenneth Walker III has been in a tier of his own through his first five games with Kansas City.

The Chiefs signed Walker after his four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, looking for a runner capable of taking some of the offensive burden away from Patrick Mahomes. The move has worked about as well as Kansas City could have hoped.

Walker leads the NFL with 665 rushing yards on 106 carries, an average of 6.3 yards per attempt. He has another 95 receiving yards, giving him 760 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns.

His efficiency metrics are even more extreme.

Walker has generated 12.6 rushing EPA, easily the best mark among running backs. He has also rushed for 277 yards over expectation. No other back is within 100 yards of that figure.

That means Walker hasn’t simply benefited from Kansas City’s offense or favorable blocking. He has consistently created significantly more yardage than the circumstances of his carries would normally produce.

His game logs reinforce the point. Walker rushed for 173 yards against Denver in Week 1, 117 against Indianapolis in Week 2, and 177 against Las Vegas in Week 4. After Kansas City’s bye, he returned with another 128 yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Walker has topped 100 rushing yards in four of his five games and already has seven runs of at least 20 yards.

The historical context may be even more impressive. When Chadwick compared Walker’s 97.3 grade with PFN’s historical database, it ranked seventh among running back seasons since the turn of the century. The six seasons ahead of him all finished with more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage.

That doesn’t mean Walker is guaranteed to maintain this pace. PFN grades evolve as the sample grows, and there is plenty of football left. It does illustrate the level at which he has played through five games.

Kansas City wanted someone who could reduce how often Mahomes had to carry the entire offense. Instead, the Chiefs may have found the most effective running back in football.